


Healing Gunslinger

by Grumpy_Bubble_Tea



Category: Epithet Erased
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:26:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21714526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grumpy_Bubble_Tea/pseuds/Grumpy_Bubble_Tea
Summary: This work is may turn out to be entirely impossible by means of canon, but honestly, I just really love Epithet Erased. It's really hard to have a favorite character because everyone is amazing, and it's hard to have a favorite pair because they all have amazing relationships, but my sister asked me to do something with Zora and Percy, so I'm gunna feature those two gems. Thank you for checking out this fanfic!
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	Healing Gunslinger

_... Where am I?_

The sight of something bright laying upon Percy's eyelids cause her to stir awake. She sits up, the baby blue comforter on her body falling to her lap, and the cold washcloth that'd been pressed to her forehead going down with it. One of her hands lifted to rub her eyes and then run through her blonde hair as the other picked up the cold washcloth. As she paused, instantly on alert, she realized that this room...

... Wasn't hers. Nothing in it seemed familiar--Not the pictures on the walls, the linen on the bed, the carpet on the floor, or even the view from the window that was wet from rainfall that'd stopped just mere minutes before Percy had woken up. She quickly sprang up from the bed and onto her feet, looking around quickly for any sign of another person. If she wasn't in her home, she had to have been taken, and was being held hostage. Her last few memories prior to this moment would've let up to this realistically, she figured. She looked around desperately for her real-ass goddamn sword, only to find the weapon in its sheath, resting against the wall, beside the closed wooden door. On tip-toes to keep quiet, Percy hurried over to it and lifted it up, then slid the sword out of its sheath so she'd be ready to attack at a moment's notice. The blonde-haired woman approached the door quietly, wrapped her free hand around the knob, opened it slowly and quietly to avoid attracting attention to herself, and looked around for any sign of another person. 

All she could pick up on was the visible lights of the kitchen from down the hallway, the smell of freshly-cooked bacon and sweet maple syrup, and the sound of someone whistling. She could also faintly pick up on the sight of a shadow moving around from the room, going about its business. On guard and ready to fight for her own safety, Percy snuck down the fall, moving swiftly but still on the tips of her toes to minimize the noise. She stopped at the very end of the hall and peeked over, her ocean blue eyes coming to rest on a rather tall woman with light brown skin and long, flowing dark brown hair. Her back was to Percy and her front was to the stove, and a black pan was seen in her hand, being used to flip a pancake. Percy took a deep breath before aiming her sword at her kidnapper as she jumped out. 

"Freeze! I'm Percival King of Sweet Jazz City Police, and you are hereby under arrest for kidnapping!" 

The woman gasped softly before turning around. Her eyes fell onto the sword, and quickly, her lips curled into a smirk. "Kidnapping, eh? If I hadn't taken you in, you would'a died, honestly. Yer welcome." 

"... I... I beg your pardon?" Percy cocked a brow as she lowered her sword.

"I saved you, Officer." She turned back around, returning her attention to the food she was cooking. "Go on and have a seat at the kitchen table." 

Percy blinked, dumbfounded. Her eyes looked to the table, and then to the woman, and then back to the small, quaint table made of wood, with two chairs seated at it, across from each other. It didn't seem like this stranger had any intention of hurting her, in fact, she was claiming to have saved her. Percy figured she should remain calm for now, but certainly keep her guard up, and her real-ass goddamn sword close by in case the woman tried anything funny. She seated herself at one of the chairs and kept her gaze on the tall woman with the brown hair. 

"... So, what is your name?" Percy attempted to strike up a conversation and probe out as many details as she could about what had happened leading up to this moment. 

"Zora. Zora Salazar. You said yer Percival King, yeah?"

"Indeed," She nodded, though the woman's back was still to her, so she wouldn't have seen it. "But I just go by Percy."

"Percy..." The woman repeated the name to herself before nodding and setting the now finished pancake onto a plate. "Gotcha. How many flapjacks you want?"

"... 2, please. Thank you." 

"Mhm. Here." She set down a plate of 2 fresh, warm, fluffy pancakes in front of Percy. Then, she gave her the transparent bottle of syrup. Percy was hesitant to eat as first, worried that perhaps the food been drugged or poisoned, seeing as she still didn't quite know or believe the woman's intentions. That being said, she also couldn't deny how hungry she was, and her worries subsided when the woman got a pancake for herself and began eating it without a moment of hesitation. Would the stranger really be eating her own food if it was poisonous? 

Of course not. 

Percy accepted the silverware that Zora politely offered her, and quickly began cutting her pancakes. She usually only had bread and water, and on holidays, added butter. To the water. So this was certainly a luxury. She poured some syrup over her food, careful not to add to much, seeing as she was never big on sugar, and then began to eat. Percy couldn't help relaxing and humming with delight at the food, enjoying how soft the pancakes were, and how the sweetness of the syrup complimented their taste. Zora chuckled. 

"You look like yer enjoyin' yourself." As she spoke, she began making herself a cup of coffee. 

"Ah, well... Your cooking is quite admirable, I must admit. Thank you for making breakfast." 

"It's no problem. I assume you got some questions to ask now, yeah?"

"Indeed..." She nodded and swallowed a bite of pancake in her mouth. 

"Ask away." 

"Well, I suppose I should start with the issue staring me down the most..." She set her silverware down and met Zora's gaze. "What happened?"

"Ah, that's an easy one." Zora idly ran a hand through her hair. "You were fighting those guys in yellow, right? The Bonzai Blasters?"

"Indeed, I remember that part."

"And you kept doin' your thing with your Epithet," Her hand gestured around as she spoke to Percy, "Makin' 'em towers with all those effects and such to take them out." In response, Percy nodded, knowing this was information she recalled and knew was part of the real story. 

"I think you pushed yourself to your limit, and you collapsed on the ground after taking out the last of them." 

Now this, Percy could believe. She remembered crafting tower upon tower from the dirt in the ground, desperately trying to take out the hoard of enemies in her way, as was her duty as a member of the Jazz City Police. Beads of sweat rolled down her sickly pale skin, and heavy breaths drew in and out of her chest. Her legs and arms were weak, and her head was throbbing. Her entire body had felt sore, and it was stressful and painful to keep pushing on, so her body shut down and fainted, falling right onto the dirt ground with a rough thump just as the last Bonzai Blaster also hit the dirt's surface, defeated. 

"... I see."

"You need to take it easy for a few days. Your body's still recovering."

"It would be reckless of me to force myself back into the line of duty in a weakened state..." 

"Precisely. So stay with me for a bit."

"... Stay... Stay with you?" She blinked with surprise. 

Zora shrugged and finished what was her seconds of breakfast. "Or don't. I don't care. But you're already here, so you may as well, right? You're welcome to, if you want. I won't kick you out, but I won't force you to stay either." 

"... Thank you, Zora."

"Don't mention it. Finish your breakfast, alright? And make sure you get enough water to drink." 

"I will. Thank you, again." She gave Zora a genuine, bright smile, gratitude written across her face. Zora smiled back. 

"It's nothing, Percy." 


End file.
